06 November 2008

Congratulations to the Fort Plain Free Library and Middleburgh Library, whose digitization projects were accepted for the CDLC Digitization Pilot Project through a grant written by MVLS.

Fort Plain's project, Images of the Old Erie Canal, 1825 - 1918, in Fort Plain, come from the collection of Myron Saltsman, a lifelong collector. They provide a concrete and powerful sense of place in relation to Fort Plain and a feel for what life was like in this and many other small towns along the Canal. This collection is also significant in that the Erie Canal was opened in 1825 and enlarged twice, once in 1835 and again between 1905 and 1918. The collection is composed of photographic slides of photographs, drawings, sketches, paintings, and post cards.

Middleburgh's project includes the compilation of an Index of Family Bible Genealogical Records. It is unique to the Middleburgh Library and is composed of approximately 70 family bibles' records. The compilation was begun in the 1930's by Frances Spencer, first director of the library. The Bibles date from the 19th Century.

CDLC's first year of the project is part of the New York Heritage Digital Collection and can be viewed at http://www.newyorkheritage.org/. This is a portal to local history collections around the state.